As the Charity Department at the Treasury 
Dispenses licenses so you can do one too 
The Ethiopians are running out of weaponry 
So their leaders stock it up instead of food 
And charity begins at home 
So get out on the streets 
And help the refugees 
And the manager of E.M.I. technology 
Seems reluctant to discuss his business deals 
Cos the weapon sales are paying for his meals 
He'll go to withering heights 
To keep it out of sight 
Profit! Weaponry doesn't feed refugees 
It's a hit! McCartney's saying please on T.V.'s royalties to feed the world with guns 
Wembley Stadium forever on the video 
And a million spent to raise that sixty more 
Nothing ever quite as big as this before 
And it broke our hearts 
As it topped the charts 
But when the overkill exploited the reality 
We forgot the facts and revelled in the noise 
We didn't see that while we had the voice 
Companies and laws were pulling vocal chords 
If the western world was less obsessed with property 
And the need to keep it safe with threats of war 
Then the third world wouldn't need a war economy 
That we're supplying at a cost they can't afford 
So we buy up all their crops and grain 
And sell it back again 
When there ain't no rain 
And have a big campaign 
Using famous names 
And as the penny drops 
Into the Oxfam box 
Take off the V.A.T. 
Then call it charity 
And the public think the government is wonderful 
For promoting our assistance to the poor 
But their profits are a whole lot more 
They create the need to feed the refugees 
And delegate the guilty feeling to the public eye 
Via pictures of starvation on T.V. 
And get the public conscience back out on the streets 
With the empty tins 
And little flags on pins 
Lets call it charity 
Lets call it charity 
Make it pay!